Palazzo Da Riva Valier

Palazzo da Riva stands in Venice’s Castello district beside the Rio della Pietà, its white Istrian-stone façade rising above the canal. The building once formed part of a smaller group of patrician houses, but after a 1712 remodelling by Domenico Rossi it became a unified five-storey palace. Rossi’s design splits the interior into three sections and adds a double entrance hall with a grand stone staircase that splits again into a wooden upper flight. The façade shows Rossi’s careful hand: the lower zone is rusticated, the middle carries a continuous balcony, and the upper level is plain. Every arch keystone carries a different carved face or figure, echoing the work of Giuseppe Torretti. The main ground-floor portal is a wide arch whose keystone bears a human relief, while the courtyard still holds its original fountain. Visitors enter through the arched gateway on Calle del Fontego into a small courtyard. From there the stone staircase rises past the porteghi, the reception rooms on the piano nobile, before continuing in wood to the attic floor. The canal side offers a clear view of the Istrian plates catching the light, each keystone’s sculpture catching the eye in turn.